K9 cop helps subdue man in Richmond PD arrest

RICHMOND, Calif. (KTVU) - After several high-profile cases of police officers shooting suspects; a man was taken down by Richmond police, but they didn’t have to fire their weapons. Instead they used a dog.

Ronin is a full-fledged K9 officer unit. Weighing in at 60-lbs., the Belgian Malinois doubles as man’s best friend.

“He’s a really good family dog as well as a really good working dog, said Officer Kris Palma. Ronin has been with the Richmond P.D. for five years. All the training and talent paid off over the weekend to when he was the officer who subdued a man who was on the run.

“In essence, he’s just like a cop. We run towards the violence,” said Palma. “We run into dangerous situations knowing we could get hurt.”

On Saturday, the 20-year-old male suspect was pulled over in Fairfield by California Highway Patrol officers along I-880. He then proceeded to turn around on the freeway and ran his car at the CHP officer. There was no collision and a CHP plane followed the suspect car to Richmond Parkway where Richmond Police officers, with Ronin in tow, picked up the chase.

The suspect, Leonard Clayton, crashed his vehicle into a light pole at Gertrude and started to run away by foot. Officer Palma pulled up to the suspect in his patrol car and issued a warning that a dog would be unleashed, but the suspect continued to run.

Ronin made contact with the suspect, clamped down with his teeth and the suspect quickly surrendered.
“It’s another successful deployment. We diffused a very volatile situation,” Palma said.

Police Lt. Felix Tan has been on the receiving end of Ronin’s jaws. “It doesn’t feel good,” he said. “It’s actually pretty stressful when the K9 is coming at you and you know that you’re going to get bit.

It’s a good ending to a police story, but with so many recent bad endings, it begs the question; could dogs be used more by police to de-escalate and diffuse confrontational situations?

“A dog is just another tool that officers can use,” Tan said. “It’s not the end-all, but it’s obviously one that we’d like to use if and when we have it.”

Clayton faces numerous counts including being a felon in possession of a gun, which he allegedly threw from the moving vehicle and assault with a deadly weapon.